We Rewatched Deadpool 1 And Here's What We Noticed
"Deadpool" carved out a niche for itself when it was released in 2016. After several years of development, the Ryan Reynolds-led feature finally made it to the big screen and immediately impressed audiences. Known for his big mouth and crude humor, Deadpool's first solo flick was filled with plenty of jokes, innuendos, and some great action shots (even if Deadpool kept forgetting his tools). In a time when many were used to more family-friendly superheroes like Captain America, "Deadpool" changed movies and marked its place in superhero cinematic history as a film for which it was better to leave the kids at home.
Wade Wilson, Deadpool's alter ego, gave audiences plenty of controversial moments to laugh about, from offhand pop culture references to fourth wall breaks. The movie hardly got through a scene without comparing someone to a certain Irish singer, mentioning a well-known religious movement, or referencing an infomercial everyone remembers. While we caught most of these on our first watch, there are new secrets and meanings to explore since the film's release. Changes in Deadpool's Marvel Cinematic Universe status, interviews from the cast and crew, and the release of deleted scenes give new context to the R-rated superhero comedy. Let's break down everything to notice now as you rewatch "Deadpool."
Deadpool is obsessed with Wolverine
"Deadpool" opens with a reference to one of the most popular X-Men: Wolverine. As Deadpool sits on a freeway bridge at the beginning of the movie, swinging his legs in the breeze, he speaks to the audience in a classic fourth wall break. He lets us know that he may have traded favors with someone whose name rhymes with "Polverine" so he could have his own movie. Deadpool continues the bit, switching to an Australian accent to comment on this individual's body. When Vanessa pulls off his mask later on in the movie, he's wearing a paper cut-out of Hugh Jackman's face.
While initially a fun Easter egg that comments on Jackman's time as Wolverine and the dynamic between the characters, the reference is even more relevant years later. The third "Deadpool" installment, "Deadpool and Wolverine," brings Jackman back as Logan seven years after he retired from the role. When the announcement was made, fans went wild, excited to see the two together on the screen in the "Deadpool" universe. The film's promotional art features a Deadpool and Wolverine friendship necklace, and early photos revealed that Wolverine wears his iconic yellow suit.
While we all caught and laughed at these references in our first watch, they mean so much more now that Jackman is entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wolverine alongside Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool.
The city and freeway were all VFX
One of the best action sequences in "Deadpool" is the freeway chase. Cars, motorcycles, tunnels, and more play into this amazing setpiece, but despite looking like it, the scene wasn't actually filmed on real city streets. While the VFX work makes for an incredibly believable scene, it is literally all visual effects. Even the cityscape isn't real — it's a combination of Chicago, Detroit, and Vancouver.
Due to the difficulties of finding a location that would let the production film the sequence, the decision was made to use physical props and film against a greenscreen. Visual effects supervisor Jonathan Rothbart and the VFX team crafted cars, motorcycles, and entire freeways digitally using motion capture and different static objects like treadmills and car interiors, while dividing the city itself into 12 parts.
Some pf the visuals that were used, particularly the multi-cam freeway shots, were filmed in Detroit and integrated into the scene. "We set up these LED panels all around the car using the Detroit plates," Rothbart told fxguide. "I lined them all up in the seven camera view and edited it so we had certain chunks we would use for each part of the sequence and then could map it out." This allowed the team to get the lighting just right for different aspects, like the tunnel scene.
The deleted cancer tour scenes showed Wade's desperation
There were plenty of scenes from "Deadpool" that ended up on the cutting room floor. After Wade's cancer diagnosis, he and Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) try to enjoy life before he eventually follows up on the offer of experimental treatment presented to him by a mysterious man with a business card. However, a deleted sequence titled "Cancer World Tour" shows the couple's desperation and the efforts they make before that.
In the deleted scenes, Wade and Vanessa are in Mexico, their last stop on a trip around the world to try to cure Wade. While it turns out that the doctor is running a sham, using chicken organs to make patients believe he's removed unremovable tumors, the sequence emphasizes what the pair go through, adding to Wade's desperation as he seeks out the treatment the business card promises. It also shows that leaving Vanessa to pursue the treatment is really a last-ditch effort to stay alive and that he doesn't want her to get her hopes up like she does on their world tour.
The scenes also provide a better idea of Wade's fighting style before his mutant genes are activated. He scuffles with the shady Mexican doctor, eventually killing him with a scalpel in front of everyone in the waiting room. It's messy, and Wade looks shocked that he does it — a completely different reaction than the mercenary we've known up to that point.
Deadpool's heart hands take on new meaning
Ryan Reynolds has plenty of celebrity friends, but one may be more well-known than the rest: Taylor Swift. The Grammy-winning musician is pals with Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively, even including their children's names in her songs.
During the final action sequence in "Deadpool," Wade uses his hands to make a heart for Vanessa while they lie on the ground. This is a common symbol in the Swiftie community because the singer uses it in her concerts. The scene seemed like a cute gesture in a fun movie, but with the casting rumors surrounding "Deadpool and Wolverine," it may mean something more now.
Among the many rumored cameos in the third "Deadpool" film is that Swift will portray Dazzler, a mutant who uses sound vibrations to make energy. Another rumor suggested that Swift was in the film, but not as Dazzler. Director Shawn Levy won't comment on the rumors. "You're going to have to wait and see," he told The Wrap. In a 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Reynolds stated that he "would do anything for" the singer, and would be on board with her having a cameo in the movie. He also told the Vancouver Sun about the Swift rumor, "Yeah, I've heard that one," adding, "Every single one of these secrets and spoilers will be revealed on July 26."
The other post-credits scene was slightly different
Like many movies, "Deadpool" played into the post-credits scene trend. If audiences stuck around, they'd see Deadpool in his bathrobe admitting that there wasn't a budget for a fancy additional scene before telling the audience to go home, in a spin on a similar sequence at the end of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." After a brief screen highlighting the 13,000 jobs the movie created, the mutant is back to tell you that Cable will be in "Deadpool 2." If you left the theater after the first fake-out, chances are you missed the big announcement for the villain of the sequel.
An alternate version of this sequence provides an even funnier take. The other version included as a DVD extra features Deadpool fighting with the boom mic as he shares the Cable secret. He comments that Cable is a favorite character of his and that he thinks Newt Gingrich could handle the role. It also notably does not include the comments about "Sam Jackson" and his character in the MCU, which include calling Nick Fury's outfit "a saucy little leather number." His language about picking up after yourself in the theater is certainly more vulgar in the unused version. Had the creative team chosen this cut of the post-credits sequence, we may not have received a fun shout-out to the MCU, but we would not have missed out on Deadpool's additional views on Cable.
This is why Deadpool forgets his guns
The "Deadpool" script saw several rewrites and modifications after its initial leak in 2010. Part of this included scene cuts due to requested budget reductions from the studio, which is why the movie may not feel as action-packed as other superhero projects. "We had to carve something like $7-8 million out of the budget in a 48-hour window," writer Rhett Reese stated to i09. This was almost 10% of the script, which meant the bulk of those edits came from shortening the action sequences.
One of the slashed scenes included an extension to the final fight between Deadpool and Francis/Ajax (Ed Skrein). The scene was originally set to start with an intensive gun battle, possibly moving through the building from floor to floor. With that portion of the action cut, the writers still give it a nod in the final version of the film since Deadpool has already gathered and packed his guns in the previous scene. The joke about Deadpool forgetting his bag of guns in the cab? That was written to help remove the gun fight without completely undoing other scenes. "We basically had Deadpool forget his guns as a means of getting around it," Reese shared.
There really was a cure for blindness
As Deadpool heads out with his duffle bag of guns to save Vanessa, he tells his roommate Blind Al (Leslie Uggams) that if he doesn't come back, there is a large stash of cocaine hidden in her floorboards. He also says that alongside that stash is a cure for blindness. It feels like a cruel joke, considering Blind Al is actually blind, but it's only after "Deadpool 2" came out that we could truly appreciate and understand the joke.
After Vanessa is killed at the start of that movie, Wade struggles to cope, going down a spiral of self-destruction. He sneaks back into Blind Al's house to snag a bag of cocaine from his hidden stash, which he later uses to get high before attempting to blow himself up. When he moves the bag, a box labeled "The Cure for Blindness" is, in fact, visible in the stash. He wasn't lying to Blind Al at the end of the first movie, but whether or not it's the cure she might be hoping for remains to be seen.
Ryan Reynolds acknowledged "this little Easter egg" in the "Deadpool 2" home video commentary (via Comicbook.com), saying, "The cure for blindness, from the first movie. Cocaine, right next to the cure for blindness. I wonder if eagle-eyed people will catch it."
There could have been two Twilight references in the movie
"Twilight" fans may have been quick to notice the nod to their favorite franchise during their first viewing of "Deadpool," but audiences later found out there could have been a much bigger reference to the popular vampire series. While trying to find Francis, Deadpool pauses after pushing someone into a tower of boxes. A woman takes the chance to jump on his back. As he easily throws her off, he calls her a spider monkey, which is what Edward Cullen calls Bella Swan when she is on his back as he climbs up trees. Anyone who's seen "Twilight" likely noticed this reference right away.
Bill Corso, the makeup designer for "Deadpool," shared the unused second reference with Collider. Gino Carano, who portrays Angel Dust in the movie, wanted to wear yellow contacts to mimic her character's appearance in the comics. She even made some "big beautiful yellow" lenses to show off the possible look. "She just looked like she was in a 'Twilight' movie," Corso said. "But we made her really cool lenses that actually look really neat and do change her look." If the makeup artist spotted the resemblance, there's no doubt "Twilight" fans would have noticed Angel Dust's yellow eyes as well.
The lab fight scene was much longer
There was originally more action in the scene where Wade escapes Francis's lab after his mutant genes activate, but like others, it was shortened. Fans can watch the extended version of the sequence on the DVD extras as Wade and Francis duke it out while the warehouse goes up in flames.
While the longer scene doesn't necessarily add much to the narrative of "Deadpool," it does give audiences a better look at how Wade initially uses his new power, especially when compared to his fight in the "Cancer World Tour" deleted scenes. This is Wade's chance to see what his new body can do, but he ultimately doesn't know how to wield it yet. In the extended version of the scene, we see the truly barbaric nature of Francis, and how tired Wade has made himself by not conserving energy.
Before spearing Wade, Francis performs a series of maneuvers as Wade is confined to the floor, which shows how the antagonist has the upper hand in the fight. This includes kicking him square in the jaw and easily spinning him around to pin him to the ground as Wade tries to get up. Francis is unrelenting in his attack, only spearing him when it's clear that Wade can't get up. It foreshadows the power Wade can have once he understands his new body more and once he's back in his own element, while highlighting just how strong Francis is.
The Chinese New Year reference is wrong
During Wade and Vanessa's holiday montage, the couple celebrate each holiday in their own special way. However, there's a bit of a discrepancy in the holiday order, with the Chinese New Year coming after Valentine's Day. In response to Wade's "Happy Chinese New Year," Vanessa replies, "Year of the Dog." If it is the year of the dog, it doesn't fit with the order of events in the movie, since 2006 and 2018 were both years of the dog. The dates of the Chinese New Year in those respective years don't quite correlate with the holiday order presented in the montage.
In 2006, the Chinese New Year was on January 29. In 2018, the new year was on February 16. While 2018 fits more with the timeline, Vanessa's hair growth poses a problem. On Valentine's Day, she has short hair, while on Chinese New Year she has chin-length hair. Since her hair growth is used to show the passage of time, the length doesn't match.
If we take Vanessa's comment as merely an innuendo about their sexual position, then we can look at the 2016 Chinese New Year, since that is the year the film was released and presumably takes place. But in 2016, the Chinese New Year was on February 8 — which still doesn't work with the order in which the holidays are presented.
Nathan Fillion's cameo was deleted
Among the other deleted scenes is a great cameo by Nathan Fillion, who confirmed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he was meant to show up in "Deadpool," but the scene was cut. Fans can watch his appearance on the home release deleted scenes. The actor appears as a bathroom attendant, offering Deadpool something to dry his face with.
Fillion's cameo could have been amazing for several reasons. There was a rumor that the actor was in the running to play Cable in "Deadpool 2," especially after the first teaser heavily featured posters from Fillion's series "Firefly" in the background. A cameo in the first movie would have only further fueled those rumors, which ended up debunked.
The cameo could have also provided another funny callback to Ryan Reynolds' other superhero persona: Green Lantern. While other Green Lantern Easter eggs are present in the film, like a trading card of Reynolds' portrayal from the 2011 movie, a Fillion cameo would have been the icing on the cake. Throughout the 2010s, the actor voiced Green Lantern in several animated "Justice League" movies. It would have also been fun to look back at now, with the confirmation that Fillion is playing Green Lantern in James Gunn's "Superman."